Bash - Calling a specific variable based on user input

[jasbur]

I'm trying to call a specific variable based on a user selection. For example:

Select a file:
[1] foo.tar
[2] bar.tar

Enter a selection:

I have already coded each possible selection to have its own variable. If the user selects 2 I need to select $SELECTED_TAR2, or if they select 1 I need to select $SELECTED_TAR1 and then do something like this behind the scenes:

cp /home/user/$SELECTED_TAR2 /home/user/backup/$SELECTED_TAR2

I was thinking something like this:

echo "Enter a selection: "
read -e SELECTED_NUMBER
cp /home/user/$SELECTED_TAR$SELECTED_NUMBER /home/user/backup/$SELECTED_TAR$SELECTED_NUMBER

I'm used to Ruby and you would accomplish something like that this way:

cp /home/user/SELECTED_TAR"#{SELECTED_NUMBER}" /home/user/backup/SELECTED_TAR"#{SELECTED_NUMBER}"

Any ideas?

[bleedingsamurai]

You could use if statements

echo "make a selection:"
echo "[1]file.one [2]file.two [3]file.three"
read INPUT

if [$INPUT -eq 1]
then
cp /home/file.one /home/backup/file.one
fi

if [$INPUT -eq 2]
then
cp /home/file.two /home/backup/file/two
fi

if [$INPUT -eq 3]
then
cp /home/file.three /home/backup/file.three
fi

EDIT:
This is just a general idea, you can still use the variables you made in the paths, I just wanted to show you how you can use if statements to make a decision based on user input.

[JRummy16]

It looks like you want to let the user select which file in a directory.. you can try something like this:

someDir=/directory/of/files

for i in $( ls $someDir | sort ); do
  echo ${n}. ${i}
  echo ${i} >> $someDir/tmp.list
  n=$(($n+1))
done

echo ${n}. Exit $( basename $0 )
echo -n Please choose a number:
read userChoice

if [ $userChoice -eq $n ]; then
  exit
else
  selectedFile=`sed -n "${n}{p;q;}" $someDir/tmp.list`
  # do your work with the selected file here
fi

rm $someDir/tmp.list